Life on and off a small farm in Oregon

Did you think it was only the Age of Electronics that brought us personal listening? Consider this modern farm woman at work. Click the picture to make it bigger.

From her hair and dress, I am putting her in the 1930s. While she drives the hay rake, she can enjoy the broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre (if the photo was made after October, 1934), for she is outfitted with a radio (the box mounted in front of her), earphones, and an elegant antenna.

This photo is accompanied by the type-written information:

MAKES HAY WHILE ETHER HUMS

When Mrs. Holt Ramsey, of Newark, N.J. volunteered to help rake in the [t]imothy while on her vacation, at a farm in Butler,, N.J., the farmer’s son fastened the home made radio receiver and loop to the rake so that this modern ‘Maud Muller’ could combine business and pleasure.

Photo shows Mrs. Ramsey “listening in” while at work.

(c) Western Elec. co. from Keystone View Co.) GM 40

Who was Maud Muller, you might ask? In the poem “Maud Muller,” John Greenleaf Whittier describes her so: